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NIEM Biometrics Domain Hosts a Training Session at Global Identity Summit

The newly rebranded Global Identity Summit (formerly the Biometrics Consortium Conference) kicked off on Monday, September 15, in Tampa Florida, with sessions slated to run through September 18. As in years past, a global contingency of speakers presented and attendees took part in discussions and demonstrations of the latest advancements in the field of biometrics and identity management. Once again, the NIEM Biometrics Domain (NBD) team participated in the event, offering training and information sharing designed to expand knowledge and awareness of NIEM as it relates to biometrics and identity services.

The NIEM Biometrics Domain, in cooperation with domain steward, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Biometric Identity Management (OBIM), conducted training sessions and provided an overview of NIEM and its benefits to the Biometrics Community of Interest. The training included a wide array of speakers who discussed elements of NIEM that impacted their daily operational endeavors, as well as both executive and technical level overviews of NIEM and the NIEM Biometrics Domain.

Diane Stephens of DHS OBIM, who serves as the Chair of the Biometrics Domain, highlighted recent and planned domain activities, including data model modality expansion. Ms. Stephens noted that in the NIEM Biometrics Domain’s third year of operations, the focus remains on “active community engagement, data model maturation by way of new modalities, and continued technical assistance and training.”

Will Graves of the Department of Defense Project Management Biometrics Program spoke on NIEM and its positive impact on interoperability. Mr. Graves highlighted the importance of NIEM in complex organization or system-to-system information exchange scenarios, putting forth that “With NIEM in the core, there’s no need to remake the wheel in terms of interoperability.”

Kamran Atri, Chief Technology Officer of CSE, Inc., leader of the NBD Facilitator team, and NBD team representative Manoj Bisht, also an NBD Facilitator, both detailed more technical elements of NIEM, including data models, exchange, and IEPD development. Mr. Atri said, “NIEM has never been more important. It is evolving to be more solidly present in international, state, and local environments. With the release of NIEM 3.0, the potential for expansion is even greater, and the Biometrics Domain is here to assist with mapping NIEM to your operational biometric activities.”

Brad Wing of NIST, who serves as the NBD Ombudsman, gave an overview of the new NIST biometric modalities and noted that the several dates were on the horizon for NIST activities that would impact the Biometrics community. The most visible of these in terms of biometrics standards is the kickoff for the ANSI/NIST-ITL Biometrics Standard 2015 Update process on October 31. For more information on this activity, please reference the following link:www.nist.gov/itl/iad/ig/ansi_kickoff_2015.cfm

The Biometrics Domain's mission is to support biometric-related services and mission-based activities, such as homeland security, national defense, border management, immigration benefits, and global law enforcement through the joint development and alignment of XML Biometric Standards.

For more information on the NIEM Biometrics Domain, please visit the NBD community page at: www.niem.gov/biometrics. For information related to membership or training, please contact the Biometrics Domain facilitator team at NIEM-BD-Facilitator@cse-corp.com.